Board Updates & Staff Appreciation Dinner

Our organization is made up of two separate pieces: The Peruvian organization (headed by Viviana and Avishai) handles all aspects of programming, while the US organization (headed by our Board) handles fundraising and provides some financial oversight.

US Board Elections

This month, our US board held its annual election. Our board members and their current roles are:

Lauren Haas, Chairperson

Joshua Sandstrom, Vice Chairperson

Josh Brazier, Treasurer

Glenn Zahler, Secretary

Ram Krishan Kaur Khalsa, Director

Staff Appreciation Dinner

For a while now, as Board Chair, I’ve wished our board to show its appreciation for our staff each year, but during all the crises of the past few years, it simply didn’t happen.

This year, I am in Peru and Avishai approached me with an idea similar to the one I’ve had — a special dinner for the staff to gather and relax together. Avishai’s idea blossomed into something much more meaningful than a restaurant meal, though.

The kids’ living and dining areas

Roasted trout by Jose

A beautiful meal

Celebrating with ice cream in Cusco

Marco giving us a tour

Visiting the San Blas church

Since the kids have just moved into their new apartment in Cusco and most of us hadn’t seen it yet, we decided to have dinner there. The guests were me (Lauren, US Board Chair), Viviana (Executive Director), Avishai (Associate Director), Kellye (Administrator and full-time tutor), and Benita (part-time cook and all-around friend to the Niños for many years).

The board members sent funding to pay for the day, and the Niños donated their labor to make it happen for us: Raul did the shopping, Jose cooked our dinner, Zenobia made a beautiful fruit salad for us, and Marco offered a guided tour of the Cusco plaza. Afterward, we all went out for ice cream together.

We are really grateful to the Board and the kids for making this happen, and to Avishai for putting it all together. It was a very special day for all of us!